FACILITATOR

In a region that seems eternally under construction, the potential for growth in the facility management sector increases with every new building opened. Under Group CEO Tariq Chauhan, Dubai's EFS is becoming a key playe serving multinationals and governments across MEA, Turkey, and South Asia.

- SAMUEL WENDEL

Dubai’s recently completed Expo 2020 offered over 24 million visitors an opportunity to experience an array of entertainment, architecture, and innovation.

But just as impressive as the show was the community of people working behind the scenes to keep the venues clean and safe for guests—an army of janitors, attendants, security guards, and beyond.

One company that provided several such services during the Expo, including housekeeping, technicians, and facade cleaners, was Dubai’s EFS. A key regional player in the facility management sector, EFS is one of those companies that helps keep business humming at offices, resorts, schools, factories, and more. “When I maintain a building for a client, I’m looking at the end-user ease in terms of a better quality of service,” says Tariq Chauhan, the long-time Group CEO of EFS. His company does everything from providing technical maintenance like plumbing and HVAC to delivering so-called soft services such as catering, landscaping, and security.

Taking on a contract for a generational event like the Expo is a sign of the times for EFS, which employs over 20,000 people and operates across the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and South Asia. The group reports that it generated roughly $270 million in revenue in 2021. When Chauhan became CEO in 2010, EFS was a small player with $180 million in contracts, but today the CEO says that the group has a contract backlog of $1.3 billion and over 600 clients. That includes over 200 multinationals and many regional governments. And EFS has continued adding to that roster in 2022, announcing a new soft services contract for Saudi’s Jeddah Airport, valued at over $200 million.